Rubio will deliver the GOP rebuttal to Obama’s speech in one of the biggest moments of the freshman lawmaker’s political career. He will deploy both of the languages he speaks fluently, English and Spanish, and can be expected to talk about immigration reform.

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The possible 2016 White House candidate is part of the Senate’s Gang of Eight that is working on immigration legislation — and, at least to this point, has managed the politically divisive issue deftly.

Still, there are dangers for Rubio. In 2009, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) rebutted Obama in a speech that was widely panned. Rubio is a better speaker than Jindal, but the pressure will be intense.

Rubio is the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2016. But leading the pack four years before the next presidential election makes him a target.

Last year, Rubio stumbled in his audition to be Mitt Romney’s running mate. Yet, he seemed to learn a lot from that experience — he’s one of the most media savvy members of Congress, he doesn’t duck questions and he is usually adept at answering them on his own terms.

Rubio recently launched a public relations blitz ahead of Tuesday’s speech, appearing on the cover of Time magazine, which dubbed him the Republican “savior.”

The 41-year-old lawmaker then took to Twitter to say, “There is only one savior, and it is not me. #Jesus.”

It remains to be seen whether Rubio will mount a 2016 bid. But it is clear that he is trying to reshape the GOP so that a Republican president will be addressing Congress four years from now.